


My Sick Birdie

by WindChimeGhost



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Gen, Humor, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-01-11
Updated: 2008-01-11
Packaged: 2017-10-12 21:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/129082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindChimeGhost/pseuds/WindChimeGhost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin becomes sick and Starfire ends up caring for him. The manners in which she thinks are helpful in his recovery only end up becoming horrifying for the Boy Wonder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Sick Birdie

**Author's Note:**

> ~ Critique not desired ~
> 
> A fanfic short that I originally published to my FanFiction.net and Deviantart accounts in 2008. Just something I did for humor.
> 
>  
> 
> Teen Titans and all related characters © DC Comics/Cartoon Network
> 
> Fanfic plot created and ©2008 myself

Robin awoke but couldn't bear to even lift his head off the pillow and instead let his face fall back down into the plump, fluffy goodness. Lifting his left leg, he felt Silkie curled up at the foot of the bed. Robin sighed wearily to himself and groaned. His throat felt scratchy, and he was hot and feverish. He didn't want to admit it to himself at first but the achy-ness he felt shoot through his body changed his mind fast. He was sick, and he knew the awful truth all too well. Why him? He was the leader of the Teen Titans, he was tough, and most of all he was Robin! He couldn't afford to become sick.

It was still the middle of the night; at least he assumed it was. Lifting his green gloved hand in the darkness, he fumbled around on the night table until his hand finally rested on the digital alarm clock. But that was all of the strength he had left in him.

~~~

Starfire was the first to come bounding into the main room. She was as cheerful as ever and floated and spun about the place without a care in the world and offered everyone a friendly 'good morning'. Raven mumbled something about coffee under her breath, Beast Boy yawned and ran his gloved hand through his already messed up hair, and Cyborg offered an equally cheerful greeting as he made his way toward fixing breakfast. The only one who was missing was Robin, and Starfire immediately noticed.

"Where is Robin?" she asked timidly. Everyone looked up and around the room.

"Didn't he come in before us?" Beast Boy asked.

"No, he did not." she replied. "I have not seen him all the morning."

"Well, he either got up before any of us, or his lazy rear is still in bed." Cyborg laughed heartily. "C'mon, let's go see."

When the two double doors swooshed opened to reveal Robin's bedroom, the gang was met with complete blackness. Raven used her telekinesis to pull open the curtains, letting in a bright, warm stream of sunlight. Everyone gasped when their eyes fell on Robin. He was still lying in bed, face down in his pillow, the covers half hanging off him, and his hand still grasping his alarm clock.

"Dude, it looks like he passed out while reaching for the clock." Beast Boy blurted out while walking up and lifting Robin's hand gently.

"What is wrong with him?" Starfire asked, half getting ready to cry. Raven and Cyborg walked up beside the bed to examine the boy closer.

"Hey, Robin, you feelin' okay, buddy?" Cyborg ruffled Robin's spiky hair. Robin said nothing, but uttered a slight moan in his pillow before violently coughing. That really did it. Robin was now convinced that even his hair ached. He managed to roll his head around to where he would be facing his friends.

"Whatever… you… do," Robin weakly and softly said, "don't… touch… me."

"You look awful." Beast Boy made a disgusted face. Robin groaned again.

"What is wrong with you, friend Robin? This is not normal." Starfire hovered beside the head of the bed.

"It's simple," said Raven in her melancholy voice, "he's caught a cold or the flu or something."

"Oh! That is awful!" Starfire started toward Robin with outstretched arms, as if he only had a few more moments to live. She violently grabbed the poor boy and dragged him out of bed and into a tight hug, which sent his eyes doubling in size and the rest of him gasping for air. Starfire's alien strength did nothing to help his already aching body.

"Star…" Robin struggled to get out, trying to survive the hug.

"Starfire, I think you're making it worse." said Beast Boy. Starfire quickly let Robin go, clasping her hands to her mouth. Robin eased back down on the bed and ran his hand through his hair.

"So, what do we do?" Starfire asked.

"Keep him in the bed," Cyborg said, helping Robin to get back under the covers, "and stay clear away from him."

Robin coughed again, and Beast Boy let out a slight screech and jumped back, afraid of catching whatever Robin was sick with. Before anyone could say anything else, the alarm sounded throughout the tower, alerting everyone that there was trouble on the loose out in the real world. Glances were exchanged all over the room, and Robin prepared to get up. Cyborg put his hand on the boy and pushed him back down.

"Hey!" Robin weakly got out.

"You stay right where you are. You're in no condition to go out there."

"But…"

"We can handle it," Cyborg smiled, "Don't worry."

Everyone turned and filed out of Robin's bedroom, and the door closed behind them. Out in the hall, Starfire stopped and called her friends back.

"What is it, Starfire?" said Cyborg.

"You go ahead. I'm going to stay here and look after Robin."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Starfire hesitated. "He needs someone to be with him."

"Alright, it's fine with me," Cyborg motioned to Raven and Beast Boy to follow him, "Titans, let's go!"

Starfire watched as Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy disappeared around the corner and off on another mission. When she was finally alone, she made her way back to Robin's room.

"Robin," she softly called, "I have stayed here to look after you. Do you need anything?"

Robin mumbled about Starfire needing to go with the others, but she paid it no notice and proceeded to fluff his pillow up. She grabbed onto it and jerked it out from under his head, causing him to fall over onto the bed. He gritted his teeth as every muscle in his body cried out in pain with the impact. Once the pillow was fluffed to perfection, Star roughly lifted Robin's head up and stuffed the pillow under it. By now, the room was starting to spin for Robin. He slowly turned his head to the alien girl and started to say something but the words wouldn't come.

"You need the medication." Starfire suddenly blurted out.

"What?"

"Sick people need the medication, is that not correct?"

"Yeah, Star, but…" But before Robin could finish, Starfire flew out of the room. What she had in mind, he could not guess. He struggled to sit up and finally succeeded in doing so after a few attempts. It wasn't more than a few minutes when Starfire returned, carrying something in her hands.

"I know what you need!" Starfire squealed. Robin almost cringed at the thought of what Starfire was carrying. "You need a bowl of warm Snorbleplum. It is good for sickness where I come from."

Robin's heart seemed to sink as he leaned back on his pillow and silently eyed the blue bowl that Starfire bounced up and down in front of him while stirring whatever was inside it with a spoon. He had a sickly feeling that this was going to be a very, very long day. Starfire didn't give Robin a chance to protest and immediately rammed a spoonful of the nasty, ghastly, gooey mess into his mouth before pulling it back out. Robin didn't know whether to swallow it or wait until Starfire left the room and spit it out. It was awful. What little taste Robin still had in tact, he couldn't decide if it tasted like old sweat socks or the underside of someone's shoe.

"You are to swallow it." said Starfire. She set the bowl down and placed her hands on Robin's mouth. Robin quickly jerked his head away from her and shook it violently. He nearly came close to choking on the slop, but he held it firmly in his mouth, refusing to swallow for fear of becoming sicker than he already was. "Maybe you need more?"

Robin felt his hair stand on end before seeing the blur of the spoon being rammed into his mouth once again with more of the ill tasting mess. The force of it caused what he already had in his mouth to go down his throat. He pushed Starfire's hand away from him, and spluttered and spat out what he hadn't already swallowed.

"Starfire!" he wheezed. "That's enough. I don't want anymore. It may be good for sickness on your planet, but it definitely wasn't meant for us humans."

Starfire left the room again without saying a word. Robin felt awful, thinking he had hurt her feelings. But much to his surprise, she returned just as cheerful as ever while holding a different bowl in her hands.

"Perhaps you should try this one. It is for the cure of the smigglegotten, which is something similar to your earthly cold."

Robin sank lower under the covers as Starfire held the bowl close to his face, which was all it took to finally turn his stomach over. He quickly slapped his hand over his mouth, pushed the bowl away and jumped out of bed and rushed out of the room. He only hoped he would make it to the bathroom in time. Starfire was left standing in the middle of the room, stunned.

"Did I do something wrong?" she innocently said out loud to no one in particular. "I am sorry, Robin."

When Robin returned, he barely made it into the room before falling to his knees on the floor. His face had a green tint to it and he breathed heavily.

"Starfire," he began.

"Yes?"

"Nothing," Robin forced himself to get up and get back in bed. He wanted to get back in bed to feel safe there, but he knew he wasn't. There was no telling what Starfire had planned for him next. He didn't know how much more he could take. That last 'cure' Star had offered him took a lot out of him—and he didn't mean what she had forced into his poor stomach before that. Running down the hall nearly exhausted him. All he wanted to do was sleep. He violently coughed several times before pulling the covers up around him.

"I'm cold, Star." he said, trying to maneuver himself deeper under the sheet.

"Of course you are. Raven said you had the cold."

"No, I mean I'm chilled—I'm cold. Get me a blanket, please!" Robin was on the verge of losing his mind.

"Oh, you need a blanket!" Starfire left the room. Robin cautiously eyed the door of his room as if expecting her to return with something horrible. Surely she wouldn't mess that request up—it was so simple.

Robin couldn't believe his eyes when Starfire returned. Not only had she brought him a blanket, but she had brought every blanket in the tower. He couldn't even see her, the pile was so huge.

"Please tell me you aren't going to dump that on me." he nervously said. Starfire didn't say a word as she flew closer to the bed and released the pile of blankets onto Robin. His scream was muffled by the tumbling heap that seemed to never end. And him being sick, it felt more like a ton of cement rather than soft blankets.

"There!" Starfire smiled in glee. "You will keep warm now."

Robin kicked his legs and tried to push the blankets off his face so he could at least breathe. It was hard, especially since being sick had made him weak. After struggling for what seemed like forever, he finally saw daylight.

"Starfire, get them off before they smother me! I only need one or two!"

Starfire picked one blanket up at a time and threw it off. Several minutes of this passed and Robin could soon be found trembling under the last remaining few. He loved her, and she loved him—they both knew it deep down—but what had he done to deserve this? Whatever it had been, he made a mental note to himself to be more careful in the future—if he lived that long. He had survived encounters with Slade, Mad Mod, and every other vile villain this side of Jump City, but he never guessed his girlfriend would be the death of him.

All this time, Starfire had been busy tucking blankets in around Robin's bed and smoothing out the wrinkles. She then turned and pulled the curtains to a little to block out most of the bright light so that Robin could sleep better. At last she was going to leave him. Robin listened in bliss as he heard the doors of his bedroom swoosh open and then close behind the girl. He sighed in relief and closed his eyes.

It wasn't too long before Robin found himself being shaken awake by Starfire. He looked up into her face in a sort of daze before he realized who was standing over him.

"What is it, Starfire?" he half mumbled, just wishing she'd let him sleep.

"You are warm."

"It's the fever."

"Anything I can do to help?"

Robin hesitated a minute before answering. "A cold, wet towel might help a little."

Starfire went and brought back a towel and placed it over his head, gently. He was surprised she actually did something right for once. She hovered beside his bed and softly ran her fingers through his hair.

"It saddens me to see you like this." she whispered.

"Don't worry; it'll go away after a few days. Everyone gets sick now and then."

"I suppose you are right. But it still saddens me to see you ailing so."

Robin smiled at her, and she returned the smile before focusing her attention on playing with his hair again.

"You haven't eaten a thing all day. Should I fix you some soup or something?"

"I think I can handle that." he smiled, watching her exit his room once again.

It was a good hour before the bedroom door swooshed open to reveal Starfire holding a tray with several items on it. Robin was beginning to wonder what had happened to her.

"I have searched through our supplies and found a few things that might be of some help."

Robin moved to a sitting position as Starfire began sorting out the many bottles and things she had on the tray. She handed him the bowl of soup she had prepared and began to show off the items and 'cures' she found.

"A thermometer, to check your temperature,"

Robin stared blankly at the item she held in front of him. "Uh, Star, that's not a thermometer."

"It is not?"

"No, it's a… turkey baster."

"Oh,"

"The thermometer should be in the bathroom cabinet."

"I shall go get it."

"No, that's okay. I don't need it."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Well, I have other things here." Starfire picked up an ice pack. "This should help more than the wet towel. I filled it with frozen meat."

"Frozen… meat? Why?"

"Because it is cold and will break your fever."

Robin groaned and shook his head. Starfire, thinking something was wrong, placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine,"

"Maybe you don't have the cold. Maybe you have the thing called the flu instead."

"So?"

"Well, I have heard that you need an injection of medication to cure the flu. Should I—"

"NO!" Robin's voice went shrill and his face went a little pale. After all of the things he'd already gone through, he didn't even want to see—much less imagine—Starfire coming near him with a needle. "I mean, no, that's alright. I don't have the flu. Please, just go do something else. Really, you've done enough already." He smiled lovingly and nervously at the girl.

But Starfire didn't go do something else. Instead, she stayed beside his bed until he finished the soup. She took his bowl and set it on the tray before picking up a bottle and a spoon. She took the cap off the bottle and poured something out of it. Robin caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye and turned his head toward it.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Some medicine I found in the bathroom." She placed the bottle down again and stuck the spoon into Robin's mouth, which was beginning to become annoying to the boy. He swallowed the stuff, not really meaning too and started to gag and grab for his throat. He jumped out of bed and ran out of the room as he did once before. When he came back, he said nothing but walked over to the tray and picked up the bottle to read the label. He sighed to himself and turned to his friend.

"It is the castor of oil." Starfire said meekly. "Do you not feel better?"

 

It was late into the evening when Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy finally returned to the tower, exhausted and very hungry. When the door to the main room opened, they were startled to see the kitchen area in a mess and an array of miscellaneous items strewn all over the floor, among them was an ice pack and a variety of medicine bottles.

"Did Silkie get into everything again?" Beast Boy asked out loud.

"Looks that way," Cyborg answered. "Where is everyone?"

"I'm over here." a solemn voice called from the sofa. It was Robin. He sat up and peered at his friends before getting up and walking toward them. He was actually smiling. "Since you guys are back, are you ready to go out for some pizza?"

They exchanged glances.

"I thought you were sick." Raven said.

"I was, but I'm feeling much better now."

"Dude, that's the quickest cold I've ever seen." said Beast Boy.

"C'mon, how'd you do it?" Cyborg grinned. "What possible cure could have made you recover this quickly?"

Robin looked at each one of his friends in silence before all of them turned to face Starfire, who walked into the room at that moment, cheerful and announcing to everyone that she was ready to go.

"Fear," answered Robin.

The End


End file.
